memeorandum: DeSantis steps up offensive with a message that Trump isn't the same person (CNN)

7:00 AM ET, October 3, 2023

Top Items:

Jake Tapper / CNN:

Exclusive: John Kelly goes on the record to confirm several disturbing stories about Trump — John Kelly, the longest-serving White House chief of staff for Donald Trump, offered his harshest criticism yet of the former president in an exclusive statement to CNN.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Washington Post, Insider, Raw Story, Axios, New York Post, RedState, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, The Messenger and Political Wire

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

John Bolton: It's ‘entirely possible’ Trump wants his supporters to kill Mark Milley — Former National Security Adviser John Bolton warned CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday that former President Donald Trump may actually want one of his followers to take matters into their own hands and mete …

Discussion: The Messenger and Political Wire

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump fundraises off fraud trial: ‘Nothing can break me’ — Former President Trump on Monday was quick to fundraise off of his fraud trial in New York after proceedings wrapped for the day. — Trump's campaign blasted out a fundraising email with a subject line of “I just left the courthouse” …

Discussion: CNN, New Republic, PIX11, New York Times, Reuters, KTSM-TV, CBS News, Washington Post, The Guardian, TMZ.com, PJ Media, Fox News, WGN-TV, New York Post, ABC7, NBC4 Washington, USA Today, The Messenger, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Bloomberg, abc7NY, KNSD-TV, Daily Kos, Daily News, Associated Press and CNBC

CNN:

DeSantis steps up offensive with a message that Trump isn't the same person — After declaring Donald Trump “missing in action” at last week's Republican presidential primary debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed up by taking shot after shot at the former president.

Discussion: The Messenger, Washington Examiner and Florida Politics

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Trump's decision to show up in New York for start of his civil trial was as personal as it was political — For former President Donald Trump, showing up in New York for the start of his civil trial Monday was more than a political stop to boost his 2024 campaign. It was also deeply personal.

Michael Sainato / The Guardian:

Trump says he would prefer to die by electrocution in bizarre campaign rant — Former president and frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination delivered the odd remarks during a speech in Iowa — Faced with a litany of criminal charges, Donald Trump on Sunday told a campaign rally …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Iowa Starting Line, Insider, HuffPost and Raw Story

Olafimihan Oshin / The Hill:

John Kelly confirms Trump's ‘suckers’ remark about war dead — Former White House chief of staff John Kelly confirmed several remarks his former boss, former President Trump, reportedly made during his time in the administration, including one where Trump referred to dead U.S. service members as “suckers.”

Discussion: HuffPost

Jake Traylor / NBC News:

Trump ramps up violent rhetoric — NBC News' analysis of all of the former president's public remarks shows that his recent statements and social media posts have taken a dark and aggressive turn. — Former President Donald Trump is lashing out at political and legal foes in increasingly violent terms …

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Post, Political Wire and CNN

Dominick Mastrangelo / The Hill:
New York Post pans Trump's ‘birdbrain’ attack on Haley

Discussion: New York Post, Florida Politics and BizPac Review

Associated Press:

Rep. Matt Gaetz files resolution to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House — Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a resolution late Monday to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker, setting up a likely showdown vote in the House in the days ahead. The far-right Republican from Florida …

The Hill:

Gaetz moves to oust Speaker McCarthy — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Monday moved to force a vote on ousting Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), following through with his pledge to do so after the Speaker put a “clean” continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government on the House floor.

Discussion: CBS News, Associated Press, One America News Network, The Messenger, NewsNation, UPI, ZeroHedge News, The Post Millennial, Insider, The American Conservative, Semafor, Raw Story, CNN and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:

Democrats Weigh Whether to Rescue McCarthy From G.O.P. Ouster Bid — Party officials said that without promises to address their policy priorities, the speaker should not count on Democratic votes to save him. — The hard-right threat to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post …

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Bloomberg, New York Post, Insider, Political Wire, IJR, HuffPost, Politico and Washington Times

Scott Wong / NBC News:
Rep. Matt Gaetz triggers vote to oust Kevin McCarthy from speaker's office

Discussion: Financial Times, The Guardian, Washington Times and Wall Street Journal

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Democrats can't really save Kevin McCarthy

Discussion: The Hill, The Messenger, New York Times, Washington Times, NBC News, Raw Story, CBS News, USA Today and Punchbowl News

Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
McCarthy's Speakership Is in Jeopardy This Week After a Threat to Oust Him

Discussion: The Atlantic, PBS NewsHour, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Washington Times, National Review, ABC News, Semafor and HuffPost

Ben Collins / NBC News:

What was Elon Musk's strategy for Twitter? — A year after the world's richest man acquired the social media platform, a game plan published by a fired Trump White House staffer provides a clue. — On the day that public records revealed that Elon Musk had become Twitter's biggest shareholder …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Beast and The Forward

Sebastian Murdock / HuffPost:
Elon Musk Hit With Lawsuit For Falsely Accusing Man Of Being Part Of Neo-Nazi Brawl

Discussion: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, The Messenger, Mashable, NBC News, Rolling Stone, The Verge, The Daily Beast and Mediaite

New York Times:

Nobel Prize Awarded to Covid Vaccine Pioneers — The physiology or medicine prize for Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman recognized work that led to the development of vaccines that were administered to billions around the world. — Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman …

ABC News:

Congressman Henry Cuellar carjacked at gunpoint in Washington — Congressman Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint Monday. — LIVE — Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint Monday night near his residence in the Navy Yard area of Washington, D.C. just blocks from the Capitol.

Discussion: The Messenger and Associated Press

Miranda Nazzaro / The Hill:
Rep. Cuellar unharmed in armed carjacking in DC

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, HuffPost, Politico, New York Post, Bloomberg, NBC4 Washington, UPI, CNN, Raw Story, New York Times, Fox News, Rolling Stone, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, CBS News, RedState and The Post Millennial

EMILYs List:

EMILYs List Statements on Laphonza Butler's Appointment to the U.S. Senate — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in response to the news that Gov. Gavin Newsom will name EMILYs List President Laphonza Butler to the U.S. Senate from California, EMILYs List released the following statements:

Discussion: Breitbart, NBC Los Angeles, Sacramento Bee, The Daily Caller, Human Rights Campaign, CBS News, The Federalist, Washington Examiner, CNN, BizPac Review, KXAN Austin, Axios, The National Pulse+ and Insider

Francesca Chambers / USA Today:
Meet Laphonza Butler, the Emily's List president and Kamala Harris ally entering the senate

Bob Inglis / New York Times:

My Fellow Republicans: It's Time to Grow Up — Extremists in my party have threatened to try and remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy for relying on the votes of Democrats to keep the government open. Some of them appear to be authoritarian separatists who reject pluralism …

Discussion: Raw Story and Digby's Hullabaloo

Reuters:

'They're just meat': Russia deploys punishment battalions in echo of Stalin — Drunk recruits. Insubordinate soldiers. Convicts. — They're among hundreds of military and civilian offenders who've been pressed into Russian penal units known as “Storm-Z” squads and sent to the frontlines …

A.R. Hoffman / New York Sun:

Error in New York's Civil Fraud Case Against Trump Is Flagged by Industry Insiders, Who Say Valuation of Mar-a-Lago Cited by Judge Is Based on a Misunderstanding of Basic Real Estate Practice — Apparent mistake by Judge Engoron surfaces in his use of a Palm Beach County appraisal of Mar-a-Lago that …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Washington Times and The Messenger

Washington Post:

Amid liberal revolt, pope signals openness to blessings for gay couples — COLOGNE, Germany — In the shadow of Cologne's Gothic cathedral, the St. Stephan's Youth Choir struck up a chorus of “All You Need Is Love” as couples — men with men, women with women, and women with men …

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press, National Review, UPI, Reuters, Fox News and New York Times

Lawrence Hurley / NBC News:

Clarence Thomas recuses himself as Supreme Court rejects ex-Trump lawyer John Eastman's appeal — Thomas, who is under fire over claims of ethical lapses, was criticized for not recusing himself from a separate Jan. 6-related case because his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas …

Washington Post:

Pentagon official charged with participating in dog fighting ring — Frederick D. Moorefield Jr., a deputy chief information officer, is accused of training fighting dogs for more than 20 years — A senior member of the Department of Defense communications staff has been arrested and charged …

Discussion: US Department of Justice, Fox News, Task & Purpose, CBS News and The Daily Caller

Julia Davis / The Daily Beast:

Putin's Pals Brag: Elon Musk ‘Really Is Our Agent!’ — Kremlin propagandists are rejoicing after Congress omitted aid to Ukraine from its most recent government funding bill. — Russian experts have long predicted that it's only a matter of time before U.S. aid to Ukraine is jeopardized by war fatigue and domestic issues.

Discussion: Foreign Affairs, Agence France-Presse and Politico

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Three in 10 Republicans don't think the Biden impeachment probe will be fair — Leaders of the House Republican conference would like Americans to be under the impression that the party's investigation into the possible impeachment of President Biden is a sober act, one undertaken solely …

Discussion: Monmouth University …